Damp proofing in Folkestone? Get an independent survey first

Why the survey comes before damp proofing in Folkestone

Damp proofing is the answer to one specific fault, a missing or failed damp proof course, and that fault is far rarer in Folkestone than the quotes suggest. Before anyone drills a wall, somebody with nothing to sell should establish why it is wet. That is the whole of what we do. We carry out no treatment, so the survey is not a route to a sale.

The Folkestone quotes that concern us most are injection and tanking inside flats for water coming through a parapet, a valley, a cracked render or the retained ground behind a basement. The flat owner pays and the source remains. On the seafront, salt in the masonry is often read as rising damp.

The kinds of damp proofing, and what each one is for

"Damp proofing" covers several different jobs. A chemical damp proof course is a cream or fluid injected into a mortar course to stop moisture rising from the ground. A physical course is a membrane or slate cut into the wall, slower and more disruptive. Tanking is a waterproof coating or render that holds water back on a wall below ground. A drained membrane lets water reach the wall and carries it away to a channel and pump.

Each answers one fault. None of them fixes rain coming through Victorian brick, stucco and stone or brick, a gutter overflowing down a corner, or condensation on a cold wall, and those three account for most of the damp we are asked about in Folkestone. Replastering is often sold alongside, and on old solid walls the choice of plaster matters as much as anything injected.

Folkestone walls, and what they actually need

Converted Victorian houses need their roofs, parapets and render maintained, basements need drainage and designed below ground systems, and flats need ventilation that copes with modern living. Newer homes need clear courses and working extraction.

Folkestone sits where the chalk of the North Downs meets the Lower Greensand and the Gault clay. The Warren to the east is famous for landslips, and Sandgate to the west sits on ground known for slow movement. Clay holds water and moves with the seasons, while greensand drains freely. The mix makes local drainage and ground conditions especially relevant to damp.

• Roof, parapet and valley repairs, usually through the freeholder
• Render and balcony repairs on Channel facing elevations
• Drainage and a drained membrane for habitable basements
• Ventilation improvements for condensation and mould

The Leas and the cost of treating the wrong flat

We are often asked to look at a flat where damp proofing has already been done, sometimes twice, and the damp has returned. In converted Folkestone houses the reason is usually that the water was never coming from the ground. It was coming from a valley, a parapet, a hopper or a chimney, and the treatment was applied to the flat that showed the symptom.

An independent survey looks at the building, not just the flat. It follows the water from where it shows back to where it enters, and records that with readings and photographs. That gives you a basis to ask the freeholder, the managing agent or the owner of another flat to act, and saves you paying for treatment that cannot work.

In houses and flats away from the front, the usual findings are condensation and mould, flat roof junctions and drives over the course. Each has a specific, proportionate fix, and none of them is an injected damp proof course.

What proper damp proofing should look like

• A written diagnosis first, with readings and photographs, saying why the wall is wet
• External causes fixed before or alongside any internal work: ground levels, gutters, pointing, render
• A damp proof course only where one is missing or has genuinely failed, at the right height for the Folkestone house in question
• Salt contaminated plaster removed and replaced with a suitable breathable or salt resistant finish, not sealed over
• Drying time allowed before decoration, because a wall that has been wet for years does not dry in a week
• A guarantee that names the walls treated and the cause addressed, from a firm that will still be there

Red flags in a damp proofing quote

• A diagnosis of rising damp from a single meter reading
• No mention of anything outside the house
• Injection recommended on internal walls, chimney breasts or walls above ground floor
• A discount that expires today
• Treatment of woodworm or rot in every timber "as a precaution"
• A quote for a Folkestone period house that would be identical for a 1990s semi

When a damp proof course is the right answer

Genuine rising damp exists, and when the survey finds it the report specifies the remedy plainly. The test is not a meter reading but a pattern: damp highest at the base of the wall, falling with height, present on walls with no external fault, and present in summer as well as winter. In Folkestone we find that pattern on a minority of the walls we are asked about.

Our survey fees are published on the prices page and fixed before we visit. Set against a damp proofing job on a Folkestone house, which typically runs to several times that once plaster removal and making good are included, the survey is small. When it shows that a wall needs a gutter repair rather than an injected course, it pays for itself several times over.

Many Folkestone buyers are buying a flat in a converted Leas or West End house. Damp in those flats often comes from the building, not the flat, so knowing the source and responsibility before exchange is essential. An independent survey gives you that, and gives you evidence for the freeholder if work is needed.

What you do with the report is up to you. Most people fix the outside faults first, which are usually the cheapest, and give the wall a season to dry. Some take the specification to two or three Folkestone contractors. Some send it back to the firm that quoted, which often changes the quote.

For the full picture of what a survey here involves, see damp surveys in Folkestone.

Around Folkestone

The Leas and the West End

Large Victorian and Edwardian houses, mostly flats. Roofs, parapets, basements and freeholder responsibility are the recurring issues.

The harbour and Old High Street

Older buildings on steep ground. Lateral damp on uphill walls, drainage and render are typical.

Cheriton, Morehall and Hawkinge

Twentieth century and newer housing. Mould, ventilation and extension details make up most surveys.

Damp proofing questions in Folkestone

Nearby

• Damp proofing in Hythe
• Damp proofing in Dover
• Damp proofing in Ashford

Book a survey before you pay for damp proofing

Get the cause in writing before anyone drills a wall. We sell no treatment and cover Folkestone and the villages around it.

Book a Survey or call 07386 225526